


And I've fallen on my face

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Aromantic Raphael Santiago, Asexual Character, Asexual Raphael Santiago, Crushes, F/F, Hurt Simon, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nosebleed (mentioned), Not Beta Read, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Prom, Shy Raphael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7872331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An icy sensation on his face jerked Simon back to consciousness and a pained sound slipped from his lips and he barely caught the mumbled "<em>Lo siento</em>" before a shock of red hair appeared in his vision and Clary's worried face hovered closely over his.</p><p>"How are you feeling?" She asked softly, with obvious worry, and her soft fingertips brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, lingering on his skin for a few seconds.</p><p>"Like I got my face smashed in," Simon mumbled and his speech sounded a little slurred thanks to the slight dizziness he felt despite lying down. His best friend laughed without humour and she tucked a fiery lock behind her ear, creating a little more distance between their faces by leaning back.</p><p>"That's basically what happened. To be more precise: you fell down the stairs and kind of landed on your face. It's a miracle you didn't break your nose but it's still bleeding and already swollen," the redhead explained with a sigh and brushed her fingertips through Simon's hair in a soothing manner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I've fallen on my face

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't too sure about choosing F/F as a category because it's just mentioned and not even an established relationship but, oh well, whatever...I don't even really ship Clizzy, honestly - it's cute and all, don't get me wrong - but I certainly like it a whole lot better than Clace and that's reason enough for me *laughs*

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion: Simon's brain recognised his foot would miss the next stair a fraction of a second before the step was completed, he thought to himself  _fuck, this is going to end badly_  but his body didn't get the memo in time to react. The split second of slow motion was replaced by a moment of everything happening in time lapse: slipping, falling, the adrenalin rush, stinging pain and warm wetness trickling down his face.

"Simon! Oh my god! Simon, are you okay?!" Clary's frantic voice pierced through the haze of shock and pain. Simon unsuccessfully tried to slowly blink his eyes open and groaned, not daring to touch his face that was nothing but pain. He felt a gentle hand gingerly touching his cheek, a silky and most definitely male voice mumbling something along the lines of "not broken" and "going to be okay" but Simon balanced on this thin line to unconsciousness and his hearing seemed to fade in and out again. Before everything went completely black, Simon felt like he started floating because the hard ground suddenly disappeared and a solid warmth pressed into his side, reassuring but oh so gentle.

***

An icy sensation on his face jerked Simon back to consciousness and a pained sound slipped from his lips and he barely caught the mumbled " _Lo siento_ " before a shock of red hair appeared in his vision and Clary's worried face hovered closely over his.

"How are you feeling?" She asked softly, with obvious worry, and her soft fingertips brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, lingering on his skin for a few seconds.

"Like I got my face smashed in," Simon mumbled and his speech sounded a little slurred thanks to the slight dizziness he felt despite lying down. His best friend laughed without humour and she tucked a fiery lock behind her ear, creating a little more distance between their faces by leaning back.

"That's basically what happened. To be more precise: you fell down the stairs and kind of landed on your face. It's a miracle you didn't break your nose but it's still bleeding and already swollen," the redhead explained with a sigh and brushed her fingertips through Simon's hair in a soothing manner.

"You're in the infirmary now," she added and Simon started to remember that they were at school. It was prom night and he had agreed to be Clary's date after both of them had been too chicken-shit to ask their crushes out. Well, at least Simon had the excuse that his crush already had someone to go with so there had really been no use in asking - even though the chosen date of his crush seemed to have been a last-minute decision a few days earlier. In Clary's circumstances, it wasn't even a case of not having the guts to ask because she actually had been asked by her crush weeks ago...and had declined for some reason that was still beyond Simon.

"How did you get me to the infirmary with your spaghetti-arms?" Simon asked - well, croaked - and tried to lighten the mood at least a tiny bit. His best friend's face made him want to backtrack on the question; he knew Clary well enough and could tell that he would not like the answer.

"Uh, well, about that...Raphael showed up and carried you here. Bridal-style," the redhead explained with a crooked grin and Simon's next groan did not originate from pain. Not a physical one, at least.

"Please tell me you're not talking about the Raphael I think you're talking about," he pleaded but Clary's expression was answer enough. Of course, it had been  _the_  Raphael. It was just his luck that Raphael Santiago,  _his crush_ , had witnessed him tumbling down a flight of five measly stairs like a shot pigeon. Of course, it couldn't have been enough to embarrass himself in front of half the school, no, Raphael had to be present as well. Obviously, some higher power hated Simon for some reason.

The sound of someone clearing their throat alerted Simon to the fact that he thought wrong in assuming that he was alone with his best friend, who shrugged apologetically before she disappeared from his sight and a different face showed up above him.

"Sorry to disappoint," Raphael said in his devastatingly smooth, deep voice and the slight hint of an accent did things to Simon that he did not even want to think about right now. He probably shouldn't be surprised that the first time he actually got to talk to the gorgeous boy would be under such miserable and embarrassing circumstances.

"Yeah, right..." Simon meant it like  _right_ _as if someone like you could disappoint_  or  _I'm the disappointment here_  but Raphael's pretty features tensed up and he might have interpreted the reply entirely different. With an "I should go" the cold sensation - an ice pack - disappeared from Simon's face and only when something shifted underneath him did he realise that his head had rested in the other boy's lap. His head was placed on Raphael  _fucking_  Santiago's thigh!

"Raphael, wait," Clary interjected and Raphael's careful movements came to a stop, "could you possibly stay with him? I...I have something very important to do and seeing as Simon isn't too badly wounded...I'm going to call his mum, so you only need to stay with him until them. Would you do that? Please."

Simon didn't need to see the redheads face to know the expression she was wearing right now. Nobody in the history of ever had been able to deny her anything with this expression and despite Raphael's reputation of having a heart of stone, even he couldn't possibly resist Clary's pleading doe-eyes.

" _Dios mío_ , okay, I'll stay," Raphael gave in surprisingly quickly and Simon was damn sure he imagined the other's gaze lingering on him instead of Clary while answering. He hit his head pretty badly; it must have been his imagination. Only when he heard his best friend's "Thank you. Simon, text me when you're home!" and then retreating steps, followed by a door closing, Simon realised what this meant. Clary left him alone with his crush. And he was damn sure it wasn't to do him a favour because the  _very important something_  she had to do was probably go look for Isabelle Lightwood, whom she had rejected weeks ago and regretted it ever since. The redhead had been in love with Izzy for almost a year now and then the other finally asked her out and Clary had panicked. Lucky for her Isabelle had publicly declared to go stag when  _yet another_  boy had asked her out and seeing as Clary was now without a date as well...

"You don't have to stay. I'm okay to wait for my mum on my own," Simon said hesitantly, cautiously looking up at Raphael because his head was still resting in the other boy's lap and the closeness made his heartbeat race. Simon felt really embarrassed about all of this and about causing his crush such trouble. The younger boy huffed and gently pressed the ice pack back against Simon's painfully throbbing nose.

"I'm staying to make sure you really are fine. Even though your nose doesn't seem to be broken, you better head to the hospital anyway - also to make sure you don't have concussion," Raphael suggested and his other hand brushed the top of Simon's head, making his heart jump in surprised but it seemed to have been an unintentional touch.

"I'm sure I don't have a concussion. My head is resilient and there's nothing much to concussion anyway," he joked but snapped his mouth shut when Raphael honestly  _glared_  at him in return.

"But I still don't want to keep you here. Go and enjoy prom - your date must be waiting for you, right?" Simon continued to talk before the other was able to even open his mouth and he tried to smile impassively, even though the fact that Raphael had a pretty girl to get back to caused a stinging feeling in his chest. He had absolutely no right to be jealous; they didn't even know each other and he was quite sure that Raphael was straight anyway. It would be just his luck.

"She's not waiting for me because I told her not to," Raphael replied with a little shrug and this time the touch at Simon's head was definitely intentional; nobody accidentally buried their fingers in another person's hair like this. Simon felt like his heart was about to leap from his chest and he had to hold back a sigh, barely kept his eyelids from fluttering close on their own accord.  _Raphael Santiago_  was touching him, running his fingers through Simon's unruly hair in slow, calming movements. He barely noticed the "Why?" he uttered, breathed.

"Why I told her not to wait? Because you got hurt and I'd rather stay with you and keep you company than go to this stupid dance with a girl I couldn't care less about." The blunt answer cause Simon's eyes to widen and this definitely took him by surprise.

"Before you ask why I agreed to go with her when I don't even like the girl: There is someone I wanted to ask but...I kind of didn't know how and I don't think they would have agreed anyway," the younger boy suddenly admitted with a sheepish expression and Simon felt another little sting of jealousy. Of course, there was someone.

"I highly doubt they would have said no. Who would say no to  _you_?" Simon really had to learn to use his brain-to-mouth filter every once in a while. He had not indented to say this out loud, damn it! His cheeks felt hot and Raphael's surprised expression didn't help to make the situation less embarrassing.

"In other words...you would have said yes?" Raphael asked and it felt like a slap in the face that this beautiful boy suddenly sounded shy, unsure of himself. Simon would have never thought someone like Raphael to be shy. He always seemed to be sure of himself, to hold his head up high and not give a shit about what everyone else might be thinking of him.

"Uh...I...I guess? But what does that have to do with anything?"

" _Idiota_ , you're the one I initially wanted to be my date tonight. But I thought because you're always with this redhead, that you would go with her and I was right, wasn't I"

Simon's brain was officially overwhelmed with this turn of events. Maybe he did have a concussion after falling on his face because there was absolutely no way that Raphael had just said that he would have wanted Simon to be his prom date, right?

"Me? Seriously?? I...didn’t know you were into guys?"  _Well done, Simon._  Of course, he had to blurt out the first thing coming to his mind. The younger's eyebrows climbed a little higher and Raphael seemed torn between frowning and laughing, settling on a soft huff instead.

"Technically, I'm not. I'm aromantic. But for some reason unbeknownst to me I fell for a ridiculous person like you. It's just unbelievable how you don't seem to notice the effect you have on people and then you talking like  _I'm_  the one people would line up to for a prom date."

Simon had absolutely no idea what was happening right now. Had Raphael just admitted having a crush on him? Raphael. A crush. On  _him_!

"Well then, would you go to prom with me?" Raphael then asked and Simon wasn't quite sure if this was a serious question but judging by the other's expression it certainly was.

"Uhm. If you haven't noticed, my nose is bloody and swollen...prom is not an option for me."

"I'm not talking about today. Next time."

"I'm graduating in a few weeks."

"I have another year and therefore another prom. There's no rule against bringing a graduate as a prom date," the younger male grinned playfully and even from this short interaction Simon felt like his crush was developing into full-on falling for Raphael. Ironically he had to literally fall on his face to be on the verge of falling in love. The story of his life.

"If you still want me to, a year from now, sure."

"There's enough time for other dates in the course of one year and I'm pretty sure I won't change my mind until then." Raphael's face light up with the most gorgeous smile Simon had ever seen and, yes, this was happening. His crush, the most handsome guy in the whole school, had asked him not only to be his prom date next year but also to go out with him because  _Raphael had a crush on Simon_. Holy shit. That was totally worth almost bashing his face in and embarrassing himself in front of half of the student body.

**Author's Note:**

> _Sometimes I wish for falling_   
>  _Wish for the release_   
>  _Wish for falling through the air_   
>  _To give me some relief_   
>  _Because falling's not the problem_   
>  _When I'm falling I'm at peace_   
>  _It's only when I hit the ground_   
>  _It causes all the grief_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> "Falling" by Florence + The Machine
> 
> It's obviously not a song fic but I took the title from this one :)


End file.
